Monday, 28 December 2015

IBPS Daily Current Affairs December 28 (Monday), 2015

Petroleum products not to be brought under GST:
CEA

Petrol and other petroleum
products would not be brought under the GST regime for some time after its
roll out, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramaniam.

“Constitutionally petrol and other
petroleum products will be within the GST system. But it would be out of
the GST dispensation after its implementation for some time,”.

He said that the GST council would
decide for how long these products would be out of the new taxation
regime.

Modi winds up Mann ki Baat for 2015 with ‘Start
Up India’ plan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
last ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio broadcast for the year 2015 was far less
dramatic than his latest diplomatic flourish of dropping in to see
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore.

Mr. Modi announced Jan. 16 as the
date for the launch of his programme to encourage new business, ‘Start Up
India, Stand Up India.’

India may be third largest economy after 2030:
UK think tank

India could become the world’s
third largest economy after 2030 and its ascension could see France and
Italy kicked out of the exclusive G8 group or its membership increased to
10 to accommodate India and Brazil, according to a new study.

According to a report by the UK
think tank Centre for Economics Business and Research (CEBR), China will
overtake the US as the largest economy in the world in 2029 with the US
slipping to second place and India close behind at third.

India’s projected GDP in 2030 was
$10,133 billion, behind America’s $32,996 billion and China at the top
with a projected GDP of $34,338 billion.

Road projects worth Rs 50,000 crore to be
offered under PPP in FY17

The road transport and highways
ministry has lined up projects worth Rs 50,000 crore to be awarded under
public-private partnership mode in 2016-17. This will be the largest chunk
of highways projects to be awarded by the ministry under the PPP mode in a
single financial year.

The ministry plans to award close
to 5,000 km to private companies during the next fiscal.

Male partner pregnant with baby of transgender
couple in Ecuador

A couple in Ecuador is making
history with a unique pregnancy: The father-to-be is carrying the baby of
his transgender partner.

Fernando Machado and Diane
Rodríguez announced their pregnancy, believed to be the first of its kind
in South America, on social media earlier this month and it’s received
widespread attention in a continent that has seen a sudden explosion in
the rights and visibility of trans people.

China approves controversial antiterrorism law

China’s parliament has passed a
controversial counter terrorism law, sweeping aside earlier
criticism of some of its provisions by western governments and business
lobbies.

The official Xinhua news agency
reported that the law had been passed unanimously by the Standing
Committee of the National People’s Congress, saying it was intended to
“address terrorism at home and help maintain global world security”. A
final draft of the law was not immediately available.

Floods in Britain prompt emergency government
talks

Britain’s government was holding
emergency talks as flooding in northern England forced hundreds of people
to leave their homes, including in the historic tourist destination of
York.

Prime Minister David Cameron will
chair a call of the COBRA emergency committee as the floods cause chaos
for families during the Christmas holiday season.

Hundreds of flood warnings are in
place around the country, with 31 of them severe, signalling a risk to
life.

Washington likely venue for the next
Modi-Sharif meet

As India and Pakistan enhance
their engagement over the next weeks, after the abrupt turnaround in
relations, the U.S capital will likely be the venue for the next meeting
between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif.

President Barack Obama has invited
both prime ministers for the Nuclear Security Summit on March 31 and April
1, 2016.Nuclear security remains a lingering concern for the U.S. policy
for South Asia particularly.

The summit will be the first
occasion in 2016 that will bring Indian and Pakistan PMs together.
Official level talks between the countries are scheduled to start in
mid-January, 2016.

RP-Sanjeev Goenka Group to name Chief Executive
for sports business

The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, which
acquired the franchise-rights of Pune cricket team earlier this month,
will soon appoint a CEO for spearheading its sports business.

The appointment is aimed at
leveraging sports to promote the company’s brands nationally and
internationally, said Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman of the group.

Record highs predicted for bitcoin in 2016 as
new supply halves

2016 could prove to be the year
that the price of bitcoin surges again. Not because of any dark-web drug
dealing or Russian ponzi scheme, but for an altogether less sensational
reason slower growth in the money supply.

Bitcoin is a web-based
‘cryptocurrency’ used to move money around quickly and anonymously with no
need for a central authority. But despite being championed by some as the
digital money of the future, it is often dismissed as a currency that is
too volatile to invest in.

CAD may be less than $25 bn: Barclays

India’s current account deficit
(CAD) remains in check and is expected to be lesser than $25 billion this
fiscal.

According to financial services
major Barclays, though the underlying growth in the country is improving,
it is unlikely to put significant pressure on the current account.

India’s CAD narrowed to 1.6 per
cent of GDP at $8.2 billion in the second quarter ended September.

TRAI aims to resolve net neutrality issues by
early 2016

As the debate over the net neutrality
resurfaces, telecom regulator TRAI has said it is looking to solve the
issues “part-by-part” and also aiming to come up with the final guidelines
based on the views received from different stakeholders, by early 2016.

A debate on net neutrality stirred
across the country after Airtel decided to charge separately for
internet-based calls but withdrew it later after people protested.
Internet activists and experts flayed the operator for ‘Airtel Zero’
service along with Facebook’s internet.org service, currently renamed
‘Free Basics.’

A glitzy launch for RJio’s 4G services

Reliance Jio kick-started its
much-awaited 4G mobile services at a gala event attended by nearly 35,000
Reliance Group employees and their families. Another 80,000 were tuned in
to the event via video links from 1,000-plus locations across the country.

Microsoft chief executive Satya
Nadella is on his annual vacation to India, and is likely to be in
Hyderabad. Nadella, who is understood to be here for a personal trip, is
expected to meet Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, as
well as visit the campus of startup incubator T-hub and the Microsoft
development centre in Hyderabad.

T-Hub is an initiative of the Telangana
government.

Reliance, AlmazAntey to jointly develop air
defence missile system

Reliance Defence Limited and
Russian AlmazAntey, have decided to work jointly on the entire range of AD
Missile and Radar Systems that are required for Indian defence forces.

The development comes alongside
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing visit to Moscow. The Indian defence
ministry had last week cleared the proposal to buy five units of the S-
400 Triumph air defence missile at about Rs 30,000 crore.

Shiva Keshavan wins silver

Shiva Keshavan claimed a silver in
the 18th edition of the Asian luge championship.

The race consisted of two heats
closely contested by the Asian athletes. Though in the first heat Shiva
was a mere 2/10th of a second behind, minor technical snags cost him the
gold medal in the second heat. The first place went to Japan’s Hidenari
Kanayama, and third to Korea’s Dong Hyeon Kim.

Guptill guides New Zealand win over Sri Lanka

Martin Guptill became the highest
run scorer in one-day international cricket this year as he guided New
Zealand to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the
first game of their five match series.

Guptill, who scored 237 not out in
the World Cup quarter-final against West Indies in March and was the
highest run-scorer at the tournament, was dismissed for 79 within sight of
the 189 needed for victory at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.